1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to gutter screens, and particularly to lateral gutter screens which do not hinder the longitudinal or transverse flow of water in the gutter or require the modification of the gutter or the supporting roof for installation, which are self-supporting, and which are essentially maintenance free.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various gutter screens and gutter guards have been proposed and implemented to prevent leaves and other debris from entering roof gutters and from blocking the flow of water therethrough. Although a large variety of gutter screens and guards have been developed, there exists significant problems and limitations with all prior screens and guards. Prior gutter guards and screen assemblies suffer from complications including significant limitations ill limiting intrusion by leaves and other debris, difficulty of installation and removal, and problems associated with blockage of water flow through the gutter in both the longitudinal and transverse directions.
Attempts to solve such problems in gutter screens and gutter guards have met with only limited success. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,103.601 issued to Hunt, shows a trilateral gutter guard with a first and second leg connected by a third horizontal leg and is representative of prior, albeit incomplete solutions to such problems. For example, the Hunt patent has two legs positioned at art angle which traps leaves and debris in between the legs and the screen, and restricts the flow of water when leaves and other debris are caught in between the legs and the gutter. Moreover, such gutter guards are extremely difficult to install, clean, and remove from gutters, and in fact are very limited in terms of the number and type of gutter in which they may be used. In fact, such limitations have undoubtedly been a reason such prior gutter screens and guards have not received widespread acceptance.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a gutter guard which is highly effective at preventing leaves, pine needles, dirt, and other debris and organic matter form interfering with the flow of water through a gutter. It is another object of the present invention to provide a highly effective, easy to install, easy to clean, easy to remove, self-supporting, maintenance free, and inexpensive gutter screen.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.